My Top 5 Eating Out Tips (@Home & Vacation)

Lets talk a bit about accommodations while on vacation, then we will get right back to the food!  If you are wavering between paying for a vacation rental or hotel, I suggest a rental.  I have found from online research that nice rentals from beach-side homes to inner city condominiums are usually cheaper or at least comparable to hotel/motel/resort accommodations.  And usually come with some of the same extras: pool, free WiFi, cable or satellite, free movie channels, local calls...You get the point.

Why does this come into play?  You can cook your dinners at the rental.  And by that I mean the evening meals (evening meals cost more at restaurants).  Also (non food related) if you have kids and/or babies you can put them to bed in a separate room!  With families it seems that hotels only REALLY provide a place to sleep, then you need to get out and about before someone gets hurt! ~ But let me get back to the eating part...

Grill your pizza!

Love that pizza oven pizza? Want to cook great 7 minute pizzas at 600 plus degrees(F) and not heat up your home?

I certainly didn't originate the idea but I do use the concept to the fullest!

Buy a pizza stone. I use the square one. Probably the best price is on sale at your local Walmart, Target, or Bed Bath & Beyond. Sometimes Pampered Chef has good sales on them.

Deep Fried Macaroni and Cheese

Terrible. I know its just terrible to make something so good and fattening and deep fry it for even more flavor. But what was also terrible is the recipes that I found when I googled deep fried macaroni and cheese. Some wrote about frying it in a skillet and adding ingredients and some wrote recipes that I believe they never tried like; use (a national known brand of) frozen macaroni and cheese and scoop it out of the foil package and bread it with white bread crumbs? How do you 'scoop' frozen macaroni and cheese? And just how did they bread it without a binder and being frozen? Terrible.

The recipes that sound good give you no pictures. And one recipe goes so far as to add meat, tomato, and...now how is that macaroni and cheese?

Train Birthday Cake (Estevam turns ONE!)

Recently I was talking with a friend about cakes and using fondant and it reminded me of a time in West Africa that I had to make my own...

Friends of mine, Tatyana & Rodrigo, had their sons’ first birthday while we were working with Mercy Ships aboard the Africa Mercy and Tatyana asked me to help with the cake.  Well I looked at some of the illustrations that she sent me by email from Internet pictures and I said, ‘Is this all you want?  You want me to do the whole cake?  I got a bigger idea…’

Of course Tatyana probably had so much more to worry about getting her child’s first party together so she freely gave up that project.

Joy of Coffee

This coffee shop in Dublin Ireland (not to far from the famed Temple Bar) was a great little 'hole-n-wall' place to take a break and have some lunch.

Sandwiches, soups, and various other offerings.  Besides coffee there were plenty of tea choices...One that I remember right away was a green tea with mint and coconut.  That hit the spot as we were there during winter time.  Warming the cold body!

I  posted the picture to simply say the name of this place says it all for people like me~ Joy of Coffee!

What are some of your 'hole-n-wall' coffee places, joints that you like?  What makes them special?  And lets steer clear of the ones in Amsterdam!